What do bird-watchers now have in common with advanced printing technologies?

What do bird-watchers now have in common with advanced printing technologies?

As millions of nature enthusiasts throughout the world my wife and I enjoy bird-watching. It’s a great way to enjoy the outdoors and get good photos at the same time.

As millions of nature enthusiasts throughout the world my wife and I enjoy bird-watching. It’s a great way to enjoy the outdoors and get good photos at the same time.

We recently returned from a trip to South Africa where we discovered something amazing! The very latest in printing and computer technologies have been used to create a bird guide, SAPPI BIRDS OF SOUTH AFRICA by Saartjie Kidson and Herman van Niekerk, which allows users to see the photograph of a bird on the page and simultaneously hear its bird call.

Birdwatching often includes a significant auditory component, as many bird species are more easily detected and identified by ear than by eye. Although key birding guides are now available via iphone or smartphone apps that play sound, nothing beats having a book in the field if you are trying to identify bird species, especially ones you have never seen. Now it is possible to get both the image and the sound in one book.

Innovative technology in this new bird guide prints an invisible grid over each image. When the small hand-held Callfinder is pointed at a bird image, it reads the unique grid and translates it into the bird’s song. For the first time ever, a bird guide user can recall the sound of a particular bird instantly. The Callfinder is battery operated (rechargeable batteries) and very easy to operate. It has all the information stored in its memory. Not only does it allow the user to combine sound and picture effortlessly, it is much cheaper than any other electronic device currently on the market.

This remarkable innovation illustrates that, when combined, new developments in printing and computer technology can produce practical, inexpensive and ingenious products.

By combining the best of the electronic and printing worlds, many opportunities to innovate the printing process lie in the future.